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| Wreckage collection at impact point |
On the 16th december 1942 this Wellington bomber took off from RAF
Pershore in Worcestershire at 18.40 .
The weather forcast was for clear moonlit skies .Perfect conditions for a nightime navigation exercise .
No-one really knows now what happened but just after 23.20 the aircraft was heard above Derwent Water and Keswick. The Wellington must have flown over Bassenthwaite lake and then made a fatal course alteration in an attempt to retrace their steps . The engine noise was heard to stop suddenly at 11.23.
The aircraft flying in a near opposite course from a few minutes earlier had crashed into the Longside Edge ridge , only a handful of metres from clearing it completely .
The aircraft exploded and burnt with the loss of all those aboard.
The crew were
The weather forcast was for clear moonlit skies .Perfect conditions for a nightime navigation exercise .
No-one really knows now what happened but just after 23.20 the aircraft was heard above Derwent Water and Keswick. The Wellington must have flown over Bassenthwaite lake and then made a fatal course alteration in an attempt to retrace their steps . The engine noise was heard to stop suddenly at 11.23.
The aircraft flying in a near opposite course from a few minutes earlier had crashed into the Longside Edge ridge , only a handful of metres from clearing it completely .
The aircraft exploded and burnt with the loss of all those aboard.
The crew were
F/Sgt Reginald V.W. Bellew RAF Pilot
Sgt Arthur J. Dubben RAF Obs
P/O Anthony Higgins RCAF Nav
P/O Ronald S. Goodwin RAF Nav
Sgt George W. Hicks RAF WO/AG.
Sgt Richard W. Lawton RCAF AG
This site was easily found , a scar just above scree and craggy
terrain contains many small fragments. Some of the remains are very
human in character ,including buttons, buckles and press-studs . There was also a number of screws with traces of shattered and burnt wood fragments near them (which i fancifully imagine could easily have come from the navigators table ).
A quite large number of exploded bullets were also found . The dates on the bullets indicate they were either from 1941 or 1942 .
Two of the crew were members of the RCAF.
Here is a terrific film of the time which features Wellingtons .
youtu.be/PDTLeFl8cXU
The lead shot shows some of the small fragments of debris from the
crash which can be seen at the impact point . The aircraft can only
have come in from this angle of approach too (unless it plummeted down
from above and that doesnt seem to be the case if the witness accounts
are to be believed) or it would have crashed into Skiddaw and not
Longside Edge .
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| Ian inspecting impact point |
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| Looking toward Skiddaw |
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